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Sunday, August 26, 2012

Because at Whitworth everyone is embraced, no matter what color, gender,
religion or political view they are. As a Whitworthian you will not be
discriminated against because of who you love, where you come from, or how much
money you have.

Only at Whitworth will you see professors playing frisbee
after class with their students or longboarding across campus. Here you’ll
discover the importance of catching a pinecone and traditiation. At Whitworth
you’ll be challenged everyday to learn about yourself and what you believe in.
You’ll drink coffee with your professors and befriend the President on
Facebook.

At Whitworth, not only will you get an education of the
mind, but one of the heart as well. You’ll have inside jokes with the lunch
ladies and know the “love language” of all the campus security officers. At
Whitworth you’ll create bonds that will last a life time.

Here you’ll surround yourself with love, learning and
beauty. Because not only are the people here good-looking, they have beautiful
souls as well.

If you come to Whitworth, you won’t have to worry about
being judged, because everyone- to some degree - believes what you do. And if
they don’t, they’ll be willing to open their minds to new ideas and
experiences, because at Whitworth diversity is something that we embrace and
cherish. Here you will become part of a community that you’ll never want to
leave. But don’t worry, because “Once a Whitworthian, always a
Whitworthian.”

Here you’ll learn about blatting and transcending, yourself
and the world around you. You’ll run from Zombies and soak people with water
bottles. You’ll grow in the knowledge of who you are, and become who you want
to be. Because when you come to Whitworth, you come home.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

One of my goals in life is to be a cheer coach. Cheerleading
was very important to me, and I think that it's important to share what I love
with other people who appreciate it as well. However, I'm going to be hard as
nails coach because I want my team to be amazing. So I figured out rules for
the cheer squad I hope to coach.

There
will be one week at the beginning of every season where everything will be
in a “grace period” so corrections will be given without consequence and
hopefully applied.

After
that week, you get one warning. If I say point your toes more than once,
you run. If I say tighten up more than once, you run.

Hair
may be dyed natural colors only. Highlights of unnatural colors may be
permitted as long as they do not clash with the uniform and are
maintained. This will be on a case by case basis.

If
your bangs prevent me from making eye contact with you, there’s a problem
and you will be asked to fix it.

High
ponies are the official hair style of cheerleading for a reason. The only
time you do not follow this rule is if you cut all your hair off and style
it into a bob.

Full
uniforms or warmups will be worn at all times during competition. However,
you may change out of your shoes after performing.

No
practice wear, no practice.

If you
soffe shorts are part of the practice wear please do the world a favor and
put spandex on underneath.

A
stunt will not be put into routine until it can be performed flawlessly 10
times in a row at practice.

Everyone
deserves a chance to fly. You don’t wanna fly? Cool stay grounded. You do
wanna fly? Even better, you will at fly at least once during practice.

No one
is too tall too heavy too anything to fly. If you are a flyer and make a
comment suggesting so, you will be turned into a base.

Once
positions are set they will stay that way unless someone dies or drops
out.

You
better be dying if you don’t show up to practice.

You’re
late? You run. You leave early? You run at the next practice.

Your
teammates are your brothers and sisters and your coaches are your parents.
Failure to accept that is grounds for dismissal. I’m not saying you all
have to like each other, but you do all have to respect each other.

If I
put you in a point position or give you last pass you better show me each
and every day why you deserve to be there or I will replace you.

There
will be no eating at practice.

There
will be no gum chewing at practice.

If you
get hit during routine, you keep going. Do not exit the mat or field
unless you're broken in some way or are about to pass out. Winners never
quit. Fight through the pain. All those cheesy cliches.

Cell
phones will be put in a cell phone bin in the coaches office until after
practice. If it absolutely necessary for you to have it out, please
approach me about it first.

Cheerleading
is hard. Cheerleading isn’t always fun. But you work at it and you give it
110% each and every day you have the privilege to walk into
practice or competition and I promise, you will ALWAYS have something to
be proud of yourself about.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Friday nights in the fall bring about a very important high school event: Friday night football games. Of course, there are two very important components to this event: the football players, and the squad that cheers them on. Now, upon first glance, one might not think that these two groups of people (who will hence forth be referred to as ‘cultures’) have nothing in common. However, once put under the microscope, a plethora of similarities begin to emerge and exist alongside the cultural differences.As a cheerleader, I have had many football players try to convince me that cheer is easy, only to be proved wrong once put to the test. This can be attributed to many things, but the most prevalent is that while football players have a special form of training to prepare for “the big game,” cheerleaders spend hours in their own training to be ready to perform once the game starts. While these two cultures train for two vastly different activities, it is important to note that some of their workout methods are very similar. Just like football players, cheerleaders run and lift weights. We also have a set practice time that is crucial to attend. Our workouts focus on strength and endurance, just like football players, along with dance, synchronization, flexibility, tumbling and stunting, which football players do not have to worry about. Not to minimize a football players skill set or anything, but while they are out throwing a ball around and tackling each other, cheerleaders are performing complicated routines, stunts and tumbling passes, all of which are just as dangerous as taking a hit on the football field.Danger is another field where cheerleading and football play equally, as it turns out. Both sports made livescience.com’s top five lists for most dangerous male and female sports, with football turning in at number 3 for most dangerous male sport, and cheerleading ranking first among most dangerous female sports, followed by gymnastics, which is a component of cheerleading. In fact, it has been widely stated that cheerleading may be even more dangerous than football, but since the two sports involve such different activities it is impossible to tell. These statistics make sense, of course. In football, players are frequently tackled to the ground by people who either the same size or much larger while using excessive force. In cheerleading, athletes are being thrown in the air, performing difficult tumbling passes (or flips, in layman’s terms) and putting a large amount of stress on their joints, muscles and bones. With these things in mind, the frequent trips to the hospital make lots of sense.There are a few things, though, where there are no differences between cheerleading and football. One of these topics of complete agreement is what athletes learn from participating in these sports, beginning with the old adage “there is no ‘I’ in team”. Athletes learn to participate as a group and trade in their individualism for the good of the group. Indeed, football teams and cheerleading squads are very collective cultures. The athletes also learn discipline, trust, the meaning of the words, dedication and perseverance, and how to give 120% in all things because if they don’t someone else will. That’s a lot of life skills to take in for two cultures that are stereotypically ignorant, if you ask me.My favorite stereotype about cheerleading is that we’re all stupid. And as far as football players go, they love it as well. Another commonality between our cultures? The world thinks we’re all idiots. This is quite ironic, when the fact that cheerleaders turn in a national average of a B plus where grades are concerned, and although the exact national GPA for football players is unknown, many college football players make the news for not only being amazing athletes but great scholars as well. (Take that, general population!) In fact, GPA is a very important part of life for the non-professional members of these cultures. A grade point average of at least 2.0 must be held at all times to be eligible to play or even practice. This pushes the athletes to not only work hard in school, but to also excel in the academic arena. Professional members do not have to worry about grade point average, because obviously, they are no longer pursuing any type of education, and only working to make money.Not that professional cheerleaders make much money. According to dancecheer.net, professional cheerleaders only make $15-$50 (with the average price being $50) per game. So unlike NFL members, who make about $1.4 million a year, professional cheerleaders, who practice just as much and perform just like their male counterparts, also have to work full time jobs in order to cover living costs, and necessities for cheerleading, such as their uniform, hair products and travel expenses (which are not always covered).Football and Cheerleading are quite obviously two very different sports and cultures, both of which fall into what I like to call the “Friday Night Culture” due to their similarities that can be found upon further inspection. From required tryouts for both teams to the ability to be a professional, similarities can be found where most observers only find differences. It really is a small world, after all.